Oh, I see. Well, I can't say I disagree, but...I also feel as if it doesn't really make a difference one way or another. You know?

I suppose not. But it's still annoying. It's like the kid who eats too much of his favorite cake then complains it doesn't taste good anymore, like it's somehow the cake's fault. No, it's still the same cake. He was just stupid and ate too much.

I see where you're coming from; but the analogy fails on two principles.

1. This isn't about the time period of a child pre-cake and post-cake. This is a time period from childhood to adulthood.

2. Taste buds change as people age. You can adore (for example) pickles as a child yet abhor them as an adult because your taste buds have physically undergone a change that you consciously have no control over.

Games, books, movies, or any other form of entertainment is subject to this same sort of taste evolution. The cake (game) might still taste the same but over time your taste buds have changed to where they prefer a different flavor.

Keep in mind because of this the reverse is also true. You can hate certain games as a kid that you wouldn't play even if paid to; but suddenly grow to enjoy them as an adult.

Zettai Hero Project blew everything else out of the water this year. Shame on so many of you for not at least giving it an honorable mention. XD (At least for me it earns major points as being one of the few RPGs I could sit down and play from start to finish, without getting a horrible taste in my mouth afterwards, and then immediately go back and play it again.)

Something I've wondered about for a while. Why do people typically claim that non-random battles are somehow better than having random battles? To me they seem to be about the same level of vexation, if not worse because the Non-Random Battles are a lie in theory.

To elaborate; from what I've heard people go nuts over non-random battles because it means they can pick and chose when they go into battle. No more screen warping and tossing you into combat whenever the RNG feels like it. Yet in practice, this never proves to be true. Even as far back as the SNES era.

Case in points:

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest: Most enemies unavoidable. You have to kill them to advance.

Mana Khemia series: Unpredictable movements, extremely fast movements, and night-time/god-speed-mode enemies ensure you will often get into battles you do not wish to engage in.

Final Fantasy XIII: Narrow corridors, enemies that are slightly faster than you, enemy heat-seeking lock on that can sometimes ignore terrain issues pretty much ensures you'll be fighting a majority of the things you come across.

If the point of Non-Random Battles is to give the player the freedom to avoid fighting whenever they wish; is it not a worse mechanic than purely random encounters due to the inherent lie present in the NRB system?

There might be games that disprove me, I don't know as I haven't played them. But that's why I'm bringing this up for discussion. To see if anyone has properly presented a game with a true, un-rigged NRB system or if others feel the same way I do or not on the NRB v RB discussion.

I'm rather glad they're doing this though. FFIV was one of the few cases where I thought the update to a newer generation platform actually made the game look AND sound worse. 2D Sprites are a plus; now if they can actually make a proper remix or emulation of the music that'll pretty much sell me completely.

What ultimately happens to Shinji can be changed by completing his S.Link. It has no bearing on the actual ending of the game, from what I understand.

Would've appreciated a PM with further details on this.

Just reached Oct. 4th / 5th in the game and didn't have Shinjiro's SLink maxed yet (was at 7 I think...).

I know I only asked about a true ending, but a heads-up here would've been important. Everyone in the thread was like "yeah Shinjiro's fate changes based on his SLink status" but I figured I had til endgame to do something about it.

Pretty damn frustrated at this point. Don't feel like continuing what was a really great experience. sigh...

(staff is allowed to be emo now and then. don't give me a hard time over it.)

Think of it this way. You're playing the "true" game as is. Changing Shinjiro's fate is equivalent of a New Game+ path in a NIS Game. It gives you a new toy to play with on a 2nd play through while pursuing a plot that really isn't canon.

You're still in for the same experience if you were playing P3, P3 FES, or P3P Male MC route.

Random thought: Kinda doubtful but I wonder if SE will have the foresight to have an On/Off option in the Settings for the Clothes Tearing mechanic; kinda like how several games have an On/Off option for blood and gore.

That's about the only thing that'll convince me to buy the game presently.

Hmm...for my absolute favorite I'd have to say Wild Arms XF takes the cake no contest. A challenging SRPG with decent plot/cast and multiple classes that aren't the standard D&D base class list rehashes we've seen constantly cloned in RPGs that use a class system since the original Final Fantasy? Yes please. More SRPGs need to learn from Wild Arms XF's example and start making unique character classes that fit into their world's theme.

As for my least favorite...hard to say. I haven't played many SRPGs that really rubbed me the wrong way. I'd have to say it's a tie between Record of Agarest War and Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth. RoAW for obvious reasons, Hoshigami I can't exactly because I only played it once like...waaay back in 9th grade or about that area. I just remember being really bored and disappointed coming off the heels of FFT.

Having your family, home, friends, familiar settings, and lover/s ripped out from under you twice within a year is nothing bad? XD Maybe my views are a bit biased due to personal experience but I see that as one of the worst things that can happen to someone.

AWMYGAHD PLZ USE SPOILER TAGS OR SOMETHING

That would be nice. If someone would bother to code this forum's posting mechanic with a little button that inserts the Spoiler coding, whatever it is. ~.~;

I'm at least trying to be vague as possible to where people who've played the games should be the only ones who understand the context.